Zac and the Dream Stealers (18 page)

“Good work, Cornelius!” said Granny.

Cornelius tipped his hat and forged ahead through the gloomy church.

“This way,” he said. “Up to the roof.”

Zac and the others followed him through a small doorway to a steep staircase. They bounded up the steps and through a rickety door on to a wide, flat roof. Snow had begun to fall and the wind had picked up. Cornelius ran to the edge and peered over the low wall.

“They're coming!” he yelled.

Shrieking calls signaled the vampire takeoff. Dark shadows filled the air.

All around him, Zac could see hovering vampires attempting to land on the roof while the Knights fought desperately to keep them at bay, lighting the darkness with flashes of blazing magic.

“Look out!”

Someone pushed him to the floor as a wayward spell streaked overhead.

“What the —?”

The air fluttered and a fearsome-looking girl appeared from nowhere. She stuck out her hand.

Puzzled, Zac did the only thing he could think of and grasped it. A powerful electric feeling shot up his arm.

“Owww!” they cried in unison.

“What was that?” cried Zac, staring at his hand.

“I haven't a clue, but we haven't time for that now. I'm Noelle,” said the girl. “I'm here with Rumpous Tinn.”

“Tinn is
here
?” exclaimed Zac. “We've been searching for him!”

“He's on his way,” she said.

Zac glanced across the rooftop. Cornelius was struggling with one vampire, Granny was desperately fighting another two, and Tom and Tilly were dodging attacks from every direction.

“I wish he'd hurry up!” he said.

Among the shadows in the burnt-out church below, Rumpous Tinn hobbled toward the staircase.

High above, he could hear yells and screams and exploding spells. Through a hole in the roof, he saw flashes of colored light. He knew his friends were up there, and by the sound of it they were in trouble. Injured as he was, he was still their best chance.

When he reached the doorway, something made him stop in his tracks. The air inside the church had suddenly changed. It seemed to be crackling with magic.

And then he heard a voice, metallic and grating.

“Mr. Tinn. What a pleasant surprise this is.”

Tinn turned slowly. Shadow stood in the aisle, a dark ghost, her long black cloak trailing on the ash-covered floor.

“It's over,” she said. “You are weak. Your friends are outnumbered and outmatched. Accept defeat.”

“I may be injured,” said Tinn with a grimace, “but I can assure you that there is still fight in this old body.” He straightened up.

For what seemed an age nothing happened. Sounds from the battle above echoed through the cavernous space. Tinn and Shadow stood perfectly still, staring, each waiting for the other to strike first.

At last Shadow moved. She spun majestically, her arms outstretched. The air around her seemed to glow for a moment. And then a blinding shockwave thundered through the church. Tinn had no time to react. He was thrown back against the wall and dumped heavily on the floor.

Then he stood up. The adrenaline of battle seemed to have freed him from the pain of his injury. He smiled.

“My turn,” he said.

“HA!” Granny let out a yell of triumph as her spell hit a particularly horrid vampire. But her jubilation was short-lived; more of them were arriving every minute — among them, Raven. The leader of the vampires bared his fangs as he advanced toward them.

Zac found a wooden plank buried in the snow and began swinging it wildly at any monster that came too near. As Granny ran to him, Zac noticed she looked exhausted. The Knights were tiring with every spell they fired. A bolt of fear struck him.

They couldn't hang on forever.

BOOM!

The whole building shook. A beam of white light erupted from the hole in the roof, reaching into the sky like a searchlight. A moment later it was gone.

“What in Nocturne was that?” said Granny.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Raven stopped in his tracks as three arrows plunged into his body. He threw back his head and screamed in pain and anger. Suddenly there were dark shapes pouring over the church wall, attacking anything that moved.

“Goblins!” yelled Granny.

BOOM!

The door to the staircase was blown clear across the roof. Two figures came stomping out into the open, dueling wildly. The first was an old man with blood-soaked white robes and a bushy white beard; the second was a woman in a sparkling black skull mask and long black coat.

Zac felt the air become heavy with magic.

Rumpous Tinn had arrived, but so had the Dream Stealers.

“It's Tinn!” yelled Granny. “He's here!”

Tinn and Shadow were lighting up the entire village with explosions of awesome magic. The searing heat from their spells was almost overpowering. Zac had never experienced anything like it. His hair was standing on end.

Shadow began to force Tinn to his knees. Seeing their friend in trouble, Cornelius and Granny tried to make their way toward him, but before either of them could get close, Shadow spun around and sent both of them careering across the roof with a powerful blast of dark magic.

Suddenly, the air beside Zac fluttered and Noelle appeared next to him. Zac felt the strange electricity course through his veins again.

“We have to do something,” Noelle said.

“Like what?” said Zac. “How can we possibly fight her? Look at what she's done to everyone else!”

“Try to distract her,” snapped Noelle. “I'll think of something.” And she disappeared again.

“Distract her. Great idea!”

WHAM!

Zac hit the floor. Then another blow hit him hard in the face. He gazed up blearily to see the lopsided Dream Stealer sneering down at him.

“Gotcha,” Twist snarled, unsheathing a small sword.

Zac closed his eyes. This was it. He was going to die, and he hadn't even been able to help Noelle.

WHACK!
A fist came from nowhere and smacked Twist across his ugly face. As the Dream Stealer folded to the ground, Zac looked up again to see a tall handsome boy standing over him, his dark wavy hair falling across his forehead.

Zac froze as the boy took his arm and pulled him to his feet. To his shock, as the boy's hand wrapped around his arm, Zac felt the same surge of electricity as when he had touched Noelle's hand. The boy snarled and stepped back, revealing a sharp set of fangs.

A vampire!

“Who are you?” spluttered Zac.

The boy shook his head. “I can't explain . . .” He turned Zac to face Shadow and Tinn. “Go! Help!”

When Zac glanced back, the boy had disappeared.

A friendly vampire? Surely there was no such thing . . . But there was no time to ponder his strange encounter; Noelle and Tinn needed him.

In a confused daze, Zac began to stumble toward Shadow. How on earth was he going to distract her? She'd squish him like a pesky bug.

But, as he grew nearer, he felt a great heat building in his fingers again. This time he knew what it was. Magic.

Tinn was still on his knees. Shadow stood before him, her dagger drawn.

Zac let the magic erupt from his fingertips. A jet of scorching light tore through the night and hit Shadow in the back. She screamed and dropped her dagger onto the roof, then spun to face Zac.

He had her attention.

“Great,” he muttered. “Now what?”

Shaking uncontrollably, Zac stood his ground as Shadow began to walk determinedly toward him. He flexed his hands desperately, hoping for more magic, but nothing happened. Shadow was only a few paces away, and nobody — not Granny or Cornelius, or even Rumpous Tinn — could help.

Then, just as Shadow reached out to throw her deadly spell, the air fluttered behind her. Noelle appeared, fury etched on her face. She had retrieved Shadow's dagger and was clutching it purposefully. With a yell, Noelle leapt in the air and brought the dagger down as hard as she could, driving it deep into the Dream Stealer leader's back.

Shadow's scream was terrible. Zac turned away, covering his aching ears. As he did so he saw Tinn scrabble to his feet. In the next instant, the old man charged at Shadow, pushing her toward the edge of the roof, and the Dream Stealer leader toppled, spinning through the snow to the ground far below.

At that moment, the whole sky seemed to light up.

Zac was half blinded. The light appeared to be dancing on the roof. He heard the sound of a sputtering engine.

High above them, a rusty old camper van was being flung around in the wind. Its dazzling spotlight wavered among the snowflakes as it searched the church roof. Zac had never been so pleased to see anything in his entire life.

“Granny!” he yelled. “Look! It's
Nightstalker
. Mr. Sundown has come to help!”

Granny, back on her feet, paused for a moment to look up. A smile flashed across her wrinkled face. Then she noticed Twist trying to pick himself up nearby, and she kicked him hard in the backside. With a pathetic scream, he tumbled over the edge of the roof.

“Get ready to move!” she shouted over the rabble.

Nightstalker
was bobbing high above the battleground like a boat in stormy waters. The door fell open and the outline of a figure appeared. A rope ladder unfurled in the air, and the figure leapt from the hatch and slid down toward the roof. When he landed, the ship's spotlight passed over him, and Zac saw his face clearly. It was Julius!

As Julius joined the fray, Tinn yelled instructions and began to scatter goblins and vampires alike.

“Make for the ladder! The children first!”

Energized by Shadow's defeat, the Knights fought with renewed strength toward the foot of the ladder, where they formed a tight circle.

“Tom, you first,” said Zac, seeing his friend's battered face. Tilly was next, followed by Noelle. Then it was Zac's turn. He clutched the ladder tightly and began to climb. Above him, Tom and Tilly were already safely in the cabin. Noelle was almost there, too. The ladder jerked as Granny, Cornelius, and Julius climbed on below. Finally, Rumpous Tinn fired a parting spell and leapt from the ledge of the roof, grabbing the ladder. Granny gave a yell of elation. They were off!

Thwack!

Agonizing, red-hot pain erupted in Zac's leg, spreading quickly up his body. His blood felt as if it had turned to acid. Terrified, he looked down. A large arrow was buried deeply in his thigh. Then the world began to swirl, and he was falling.

A hand caught his wrist, and Zac swung helplessly in the air. The cold wind and snow battered him as the
Nightstalker
gathered speed. And then he was being carried up the ladder to feel the warmth of the ship's cabin wrap around him like a blanket. He lay shivering on the floor, and his eyes met Granny's. She smiled, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“It's all right, lad,” she said. “It's going to be all right.”

As Rigby Sundown swung the ship out into the night sky, Zac felt someone tugging at the arrow in his leg. There was a moment of shattering pain and he felt the last of his energy leave him.

He closed his eyes. A veil of color draped itself around the world, and he drifted off toward the shimmering light of the Dream Plains as
Nightstalker
cut through the snowflakes, blazing a path to safety.